The Twelve Dancing Princesses by Nancy Madore

The Twelve Dancing Princesses by Nancy Madore
ISBN: 978-0-373-60516-3

Take one well known fairy tale and add more than a touch of spice!

The Twelve Dancing Princesses is part of the Harlequin Spice line which was launched last year. As I write erotic romances for a living picking up this book was a mixture of looking for a good read, and checking out just what the new line is publishing. Spice is one of several erotic romance lines out there, and other lines to look for include Loose id, Aphrodisiac, Berkley Heat and Avon Red.

Now, if you're looking for good erotic romance, that isn't in your face, then this book might be for you. However if you're offended by sexuality, and sexual scenes, do not buy this book, or any in the line. The cover clearly says 'An erotic fairy tale' and it is just that, so you are well warned.

The author has taken a well known fairy tale and turned it into an erotic story. Instead of the original fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm, Ms. Madore explores the reasons why the princesses were unhappy, and also in this re-telling the princesses are already married. The source of their discontent comes from their marriage and the various sexual problems between themselves and their princes.

In some ways the story does a good job of taking many of the daily problems in married life and finds a way to work them out so that the young couples can still enjoy a healthy and active sex life. Those problems range from a woman who was raped at one point before she met her husband, through to a couple who vie for power within the relationship.

As an example of erotica written for women, by women, The Twelve Dancing Princesses is a good read, especially if you view each chapter as the separate short story it truly is. Where the book failed for me, was in having a binding storyline, that part was left, and perhaps deliberately, quite weak. But once I got past the idea that it wasn't really one story but rather twelve separate short stories, I began to enjoy the book.

From a writers viewpoint the stories were well crafted and worked as a perfect example of just how a fairy tale or myth can be used as the basis of another work, especially an erotic work. The language choice in the erotic scenes is not coarse, so words that often put women readers off, are not found in this book.

So, on the whole, I'd give this book 4 out of 5.